Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever interceded for someone?
Essentially, it happens when someone is in need of something and another person gets involved to try and help them. In fact, the word intercede is derived from the Latin word cedere which simply means “to go” and so the literal meaning of intercede is “to go between”. Of interest, the Latin root cede, again meaning “to go”, can also be found in our words precede (to go before) or secede (to go after).
Need a Christian illustration to see what intercession looks like?
Imagine yourself at the final judgment. You are standing before God and charged with a lifetime of sins. It’s an incredibly dangerous place to be, a sinner before an all powerful God who despises sin. You are set for certain doom and sure punishment when all of a sudden, something amazing happens.
Jesus enters onto the scene.
Your Savior looks square into the eyes of His Father and tells Him that your sin debt has already been paid in full. Jesus can say this because He was the One who paid the price for you.
And with that, God renders a judgment of pardon because your penalty was covered by His Son, the Son who came to the rescue and interceded for you.
Or in other words, Jesus was willing to go between you and God in order to save you.
As Christians, we have the privilege to live and serve as Jesus did every day, and that includes opportunities to intercede for others. One of the ways we can do this is through prayer as we step into the life situation of another and ask for the Lord to provide something. As we look again at our scripture verse for today, we find the Apostle Paul letting the Ephesian believers know how he was interceding for them through prayer. Look at his words again here:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17
The church in Ephesus was a fledgling church, as were all the Christian churches in first century AD. As much as there was boundless potential for growth and improvement, there was equal chance for failure. Paul couldn’t be with the church perpetually but he knew who was and so he let the Ephesian believers know he was praying for them, asking God to bless them with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation with the important word being Spirit here. Indeed, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us on the path of righteousness and Paul knew that if the church was going to not only survive but thrive, the Holy Spirit would need to be at the center of things. Ultimately, Paul prayed that his Ephesian brothers and sisters in Christ would come to know God better. That was the goal.
Today, we have countless opportunities to intercede for others in prayer.
For the sick, we can intercede and pray for healing.
For the grieving, we can intercede with a prayer for comfort and peace.
For those struggling financially, we can intercede with a prayer for provision.
For those in stressed or broken relationships, we can intercede with a prayer for reconciliation.
And for those who haven’t yet accepted Jesus as Savior, we can intercede with prayers so that they might place their faith in Him and be saved.
Open your eyes to the world outside of yourself and you will find people to intercede for in prayer.
Tomorrow, we will finish this series by looking at prayers of petition.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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